“Do not fear going forward slowly; fear only to stand still”.....has been the “Mantra” of EEPC India and its members since its establishment on October 10, 1955. The Council, which initially started off with a mere 42 odd members, has now become the leading trade and investment promotion Council under the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry facilitating trade of the engineering sector. With a membership strength of nearly 13,000 members, 60% of which belongs to the micro, small and medium scale sector, EEPC India is the single window point for both exporters and importers and also foreign investors in the engineering sector. EEPC INDIA, has the distinction of achieving ISO 9001: 2008 accreditation from Intertek for designing and execution of exhibition management services and provision of specialised management, educational, consulting and public relation services to engineering industry.
   
All through EEPC‘s History, the emphasis on competition, exploration of new markets, creating global awareness of products “made in India”, responding to complaints from our trade partners and a continuous search for technical excellence have been the trademarks of the council.  Engineering exports from India has been steadily growing and the performance has probably exceeded all expectations ever since the birth of the Council. Apart from being one of the largest stakeholders in the total exports out of India, the engineering exporters are the foremost net foreign exchange earner in the country. As the engineering sector is extremely diversified, the Council has set up different Product Panels with a view to ensure that all possible & potential Indian products reach out to the global markets.
  

The steady growth in the export of engineering goods from India from USD 10.8 mn in 1956-57 to USD 61.67 billion in 2013 – 2014, has been due to  the continuous endeavour of EEPC INDIA to promote exports by encouraging exporters to diversify their products and try and get into new markets. The marketing activities of the Council for enhancing engineering exports from India are manifold and in addition to direct marketing, structured promotional events are organized on a regular basis so as to create awareness on the capability of Indian engineering exporters.

EEPC INDIA has conducted promotional activities in 45 countries, majority of which are in thrust markets) Engineering exports to these countries have been promoted through different events such as INDEE. India Shows, Participation in international trade fairs, trade delegation, BSMs and catalogue shows. EEPC INDIA has also been active in the Indian Pavilion of various international trade fairs, to promote India engineering exports. It has been observed that generally there is an increase in India’s market share in most markets where EEPC INDIA has conducted events over the past decade. New markets of Africa, Latin America have been impacted more by EEPC as compared to developed countries.

A snapshot of the activities of EEPC INDIA is given below:

INDEE
The Council, to create increased awareness on India’s rapid progress in the engineering sector, organizes Indian Engineering Exhibition, known as INDEE (known as INDIATECH earlier). These exhibitions are primarily meant to project to the overseas buyers about transformation of the Indian engineering industry from a supplier of low value, labour intensive products to technologically advanced items comparable with the products from the developed nations.
 
The first of such series of exhibitions took place in Singapore followed by Jakarta and Bangkok. In last twenty years, EEPC INDIA has covered countries like Kenya, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Venezuela, Bi9rmingham, Melbourne, Ethiopia, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Mexico, South Africa, Russia, Malaysia, China, Colombia, Vietnam etc.

India shows
India Show is an initiative of Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Govt. of India to showcase prowess of diverse sectors as well as to promote Brand India image across the globe with EEPC INDIA as the lead agency for organising the shows pertaining to the engineering sector. Since 2010, EEPC INDIA has successfully organised India show’s at Turkey, Canada, Japan, Czech republic, Poland.

Trade Delegations and Buyer-Seller Meet
The Council sponsors on a regular basis visit of multi-product Trade Delegations to identified market overseas to foster closer cooperation to promote strategic alliances and Joint Ventures with overseas companies. It also sponsors the visit of overseas delegations to India for similar activities on specific products and from various countries or regions so that continuity is maintained in the trade dialogue. The proposal for the delegations in both the directions are finalized on the basis of detailed inter-action and with the full support of the Ministry of Commerce, Government of India.

Publicity & Promoting the ‘Made in India’ brand
In the present scenario of global trade, emergence of trading block has necessitated the need for increased awareness on the India’s capabilities in the engineering sector and for popularizing the ‘Made in India’ brand image in the overseas markets.
    
With this objective in view, Council’s publicity programme does not only bank on releasing advertisements in leading dailies, but also highlighting the industrial image of India through screening of its film entitled: MADE IN INDIA at various Seminars/Conferences, Buyer-Seller Meets and International Exhibitions. Copies of this film are distributed amongst Chambers of Commerce and Trade Associations both in India and abroad, Indian Missions in identified thrust market, Foreign Missions in India. It also brings out product specific catalogues on a regular basis highlighting the major manufacturers of such products, standard adopted, export destination and other details in order to instill confidence amongst the buyers on the reliability of Indian products.

India Engineering sourcing Shows
Indian Engineering Sourcing Show (IESS) is India’s largest display of Engineering Products and Services and focuses on building global partnerships for India. IESS is recognised as the only sourcing event in India – a showcase of the latest technology and a preferred meeting place for buyers and sellers from all over the world. International companies keen to enter India markets find IESS as a ideal event for product launches, India distributor / partner search etc. With over 500 exhibitors from India and abroad, 1000 international delegates and 10000 trade visitors from India, India Engineering Sourcing Show offers you a never before opportunity to explore business partnerships and joint ventures; seek investment opportunities in India and abroad and soar your business to greater heights. The fourth edition of IESS is scheduled to be held between 16th – 18th December, 2014 at Mumbai.

Looking Ahead........
Looking ahead, the EEPC INDIA’s vision is to make trade and investment as means of sustainable economic development and employment generation. Empowering its SME members to compete globally, building alliances to develop core competencies and enhancing our global presence are some of the initiatives for the future. Striving for international excellence will be a key plank. This will be attempted by working to build critical support elements that cover important aspects like infrastructure, technology, value added products, product exports, market research and new generation services like Engineering Process Outsourcing. In a world where change is the only constant, EEPC intends to deliver more customized services to its members. EEPC believes there is enormous potential in developing an e-trade infrastructure by building an e-trade portal that can offer dynamic trade and product information, company profiles, product catalogues, investment and joint venture opportunities as also help in organizing on-line meetings between buyers and sellers, e-trade marts and perhaps some day on-line trade delegations.
 
Today EEPC INDIA is not just a Council to promote exports from engineering sector, but is now taking the lead in promoting exports from new sectors of defence, renewable energy and nuclear energy. It is also promoting green technology by spreading awareness on carbon mitigation measures and energy saving concepts in the engineering sector.
 
To paraphrase Albert Einstein, EEPC INDIA believes that it has to do the best it can….that is its sacred national responsibility. EEPC INDIA echoes those famous lines of Lord Alfred Tennyson "Come my friends, 'tis not too late to seek a newer world.